Hicks Endears Himself To The Fans

Like a step-parents to a kid, it takes awhile for the child to get used to living with another stranger at home and to learn to call the new parent either pa or ma. Translate it this way, it is never easy for us as fans, to love some outlanders to buy over the club, in a short period of time.

But I applaud the two new owners for taking a step forward and doing whatever they could to try and get along with the fans, the lifeline and the soul of the club.

Although they might just be putting up an act and doing all these to please us and make fans like me to write something good about them, we can only look in the positive way and to dream about what these two men can do to our club.

What particularly impresses me is the way Tom Hicks, came out and defended the Liverpool fans from being scrutinised and perhaps, stereotypically attacked by UEFA. Whether he really meant it or not is up for discussion but it does certainly inspire a great deal of confidence for us, as fans.

"I thought the guy from Uefa was a clown for saying that," Hicks said. "Uefa did not handle this right at all.

As a Texan himself, just like a scouser from Liverpool. Outspoken and right to the point without being 'undiplomatic'.

Once again, I'm not condoning the act of some so called 'Liverpool fans' whom ran round the streets of Athens, robbing fellow fans off their tickets or those who are involved in violence. But to launch the stinging attack on the club itself after what UEFA President, Michele Platini, said a fortnight ago, you just got to wonder about the credibility of William Gaillard's comment.

It's always easy to push the blame around and is UEFA really cleared of any of these fracas and farce? I think they do, but as often as humans are, we tend to look to things which we could easily put blame on and not looking into ourselves.

UEFA does need to thoroughly check itself and in need of an internal investigation surrounding the ill-planned Champions League final. Liverpool issued warnings about forge tickets and our over-zealous fans but they didn't cope with it, particularly well.

And saying all these, it doesn't lift the blame off Liverpool's shoulder as well. We're known for having over-passionate fans and when it comes to things we love, sanity usually doesn't mean anything.

Every club has it's black sheep, as we've always said but once again I must say branding us as the worst fans isn't fair. Looking back at those incidents of Italian fans killing the innocent police or the Milan Ultras throwing unwanted stuff like flairs onto the ground, we're certainly up and around their standards but never worst.

And Hicks, thanks for the words.

The Case Of 'If It Ain't Broken, Don't Fix It'

Yet again, the football authorities are suggesting new and 'improved' ideas to show who's the daddy and who's in authority.

In spite of the growing problem of football violence on and off the field as well as the racism problem that still plagues some major leagues in Europe, they chose to turn away from them and instead, focussed on the wrong matter at the wrong time.

I'm writing this due to the fact that I can't accept the way they turn a blind eye on matters that are turning football into a major farce. We could see it time and again, week in week out. Simulations and divings are not addressed as well as the whens and hows of implementing the long awaited 'video technology'.

Violence still breaks out both on the pitch and in the stands as we moved into the 21st century. Fans are supposed to be educated and behave better or is it? Even an English League Cup Final can't draw it's curtain down without 'handbags' and the pushing and shoving.

Stadium safety and security are still not under a uniformed rule as the Italians could tell you. A place where thousands of lives are at stake, the safety of these people are chosen to be ignored. Even in a prestigious competition such as the Champions League, stadium violence and unrest can still be found. The Lille and Man Utd. match made us aware that this problem still exists and again, nothing seemed to be done.

Now, the newly elected president of UEFA, Michel Platini, a legend of a footballer, but is he really the man to solve all the problems that plagues football? Everyone has his own policy and it seemed like monsieur Platini is more concerned about the big clubs in Czech Republic and Poland not getting recognition rather than the image and the overall well-being of the game as a whole.

On the other hand, the English FA are so pathetically ineffective in the dealings of that fateful League Cup final. They used TV evidence for punishment but still, it seemed like they got it all so wrong. Emmanuel Adebayor was adjudged to punched Frank Lampard using TV evidence but surprise, the supposed victim said nay.

Turning all their senses away, they want to scrap draws from the league, a penalty shoot out to be carried out if so it happens. Tell me, is this the league being 'Americanised' or is it to improve the penalty taking skills of the English players? It sounds more like the former.

Anyway, what's wrong with draws in football? I know it's the most boring outcome you can have but it is going to encourage inferior teams to hold out for a draw, knowing that they could get really lucky in the penalty shoot out. If they're scrapping draws for more entertainment, the only ones who're entertained are just themselves.

Other than the fans of the Czechs and Polish teams, who would be remotely interested in watching them compete in the Champions League? It's okay to have one or two underdog teams like last season's Artmedia Bratislava but I think most would rather watch a 4th place team in let's say, Germany, than some Eastern European team.

BUT, that doesn't mean they should be marginalised. There's always a way out without having a drastic change in the format of the Champions League. Why not group these clubs from countries with lower UEFA coefficients into a play-off and perhaps, a few of them to make it into the qualifying round?

To me, there's more problem in football than just teams drawing league games and minnows not getting their chances. We're talking about football's image as a whole. Are they going to clean up? Or are they letting it rot?

Something better be done before it's too late, when there's no one in the stands anymore.

3 Places For Champions League Then...

Platini Elected UEFA President

Michel Platini celebrated being voted in as the new UEFA president and then announced he will push ahead with controversial changes to the Champions League.

Platini, who won a tough contest against incumbent Lennart Johansson, will present proposals in April which from 2009-10 would limit the number of clubs in Europe's elite competition to three from any one country.

The Football Association and Premier League are expected to go to work to try and persuade Platini to maintain the status quo which allows England, Spain and Italy to have four clubs qualify.

Platini said: "The new format of the Champions League is for 2009.

"I talked about finding a better equilibrium for the number of clubs and that's for 2009-10.

"The final decision will be (by UEFA's executive committee) in April so we have a few months still to see which way we will go, but I would like a better equilibrium, it is very close to my heart."


Drogballs: First of all, I'm a fan of this man. He's a great player and I have a lot of respect for him. I even think he should run for FIFA presidency and kick that Sepp Bladder(sp) off his arse and I'm sure he'll bring changes to the game because he truly loves the game.

But now look at the new format he's going to introduce to the Champions League presumably in 2009. 3 teams from all major leagues including our own English Premiership, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga. Although he wants the competition to stay 'true' to it's name as a league for the Champions, what he's doing is systemically marginalising teams and might even widen the gap between the top 2/3 teams and the rest of the teams in their respective league.

Think about this. Teams competing in the Champions League will get major TV rights while the rest languished in second rated UEFA Cup or what have you. They get perhaps 10 or more so million into their coffers and gets stronger with new recruits in every season.

The rest of the league struggle to compete in terms of financial strength. And every season will just be like going through motion. You could already tell who the teams are to compete for that 3 places and what's the rest going to play for? Already with 4 places, the predictability is there and we all know which 4 teams are going through (if nothing goes wrong, of course).

He might have a point that it'll increase the level of competitiveness in the league. But I believe that it'll only increase the level of competitiveness at the top of the table perhaps top 5 or 6 teams. Other teams will either be fighting for survival or, languishing with mediocrity.

Teams like Everton (not like I care), Spurs, Bolton and Portsmouth will feel hard done with. When they actually thought they could push for fourth and qualify for the Champions League, now they'll feel like standing in front of a close shop with barricades around it. And all these years of building and fighting might make them feel as if all the efforts have gone down the drain.

Another concern would be the way the G14 will react. They're a group formed by Europe's 14 most influential clubs and will they threaten to break away? If they do, what will the Champions League be like? And will this group of renegades form a so called European Super League?

It's certainly an intriguing episode yet again that could change the face of football. I believe this change in system is a significant one and how football will develop will probably base on how well the plan is implemented and received by the football clubs.